


Oh? A Perfect White Night?

by YunaBlaze



Category: Deus Ex: Mankind Divided
Genre: Christmas Fluff, Ice Skating, M/M, Mischief, Prompt Fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-26
Updated: 2018-12-26
Packaged: 2019-09-28 03:51:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,077
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17175326
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/YunaBlaze/pseuds/YunaBlaze
Summary: It was a simple mission...It was supposed to be executed perfectly without fault and each task should be completed by their set timeframe...So why couldn’t he, James “Jim” Miller, bloody complete this self-appointed mission?!The mission is simple: Give Adam Jensen the best and perfect Christmas Day in his entire life!It was easy and anybody could do it! YET HE WAS FAILING MISERABLY AT IT!To understand the Director’s current depressive dilemma, we would have to rewind back to around a month ago...





	Oh? A Perfect White Night?

‘I don’t really celebrate Christmas.’

Miller looked up sharply at that declaration, hands still stretched above his head where they were holding a Christmas garland up, as he uttered in disbelief, ‘What?’

The Director of TF29 was actually excited for this year’s Christmas, because he had someone to share it with, not like the previous few years when his family had left and he found no good reason to participate in the holiday cheers in his lonesome self. He had Adam now. The roguish Aug, who had somehow managed to root himself deep into this personal life, had chased away his sad single divorcee life and breathed some life back into his worn old bones. They now shared Miller’s apartment and spent as much time together at work as they did behind the privacy of their home. To somehow hear his pseudo-lover (because they still didn’t name what type of relationship they had yet) not wanting to celebrate Christmas was... heart-breaking...

‘I mean... I... uh...’ Adam stuttered slightly, rubbing the back of his neck in embarrassment. ‘I used to... but I haven’t had much reason to these days and with the workload, I have even less reasons. So... yeah... I don’t celebrate Christmas.’

WHO THE HELL DIDN’T WANT TO CELEBRATE CHRISTMAS?! Aside from the few cases of different religious beliefs or a dislike for this overly flashy holiday event, almost everyone on the planet celebrated Christmas!

Miller dropped the garland to pinch the bridge of his nose, a bad habit of his since becoming the Director of the Prague Division, but one that displayed his annoyance, disappointment and exhaustion all at the same time. After an awkward moment of silence, Miller asked, ‘Do you have something ELSE to do that day?’

Adam gave him a questioning look, his augmented eyes shone in confusion before understanding filled them, and he quickly answered, ‘No, I don’t have anything that requires my attention that day... Is it a bad choice that I don’t want to celebrate?’

‘No, but...’ Miller sighed as he climbed down the short ladder to pick up the garland, fingering the artificial material with a sad look. ‘I really want to be able to spend this Christmas together.’

Adam wore a guilty look at that before he awkwardly said, ‘I don’t mind if we spend Christmas together... Just... don’t expect too much? I am a bit rusty at these things...’

‘It’s OK, Adam,’ Miller said, giving the American a reassuring smile, as he put up the Christmas decoration. Garlands were set all around apartment with red ribbons coated in white sparkles, silver and gold bells were strung up as well, the fireplace was up and running with a giant wreath decorating the top and the empty space next to it had a big pine tree with many small boxes marked as Christmas tree decorations on the floor. ‘You don’t need to do anything special for it. Just being here with me, it’s good enough for me.’

Adam smiled brightly at that as he replied, ‘That I can do.’ The Aug went to take out one of the Christmas tree decoration from the box. ‘And I don’t mind helping with the decorations.’

Seeing that smile and hearing those words had made the decision for Miller. He would give Adam the best and most memorable Christmas he ever had.

***

At least that was Miller’s initial burning fuel until he started to encounter obstacles in his innocent little quest for the happiness of his pseudo-lover.

As a Director, it was important that he was good at planning and adapting to an ever-fluctuating situation. He prided himself of being a good tactician, but even so, he found that this fight he had with fate was ridiculous.

His plan had three simple parts: buy Adam a perfect gift, cook him a good Christmas feast for two and finish by giving him a memorable night.

The first part was supposed to be easy, Miller knew of Adam’s interests and he could recall the constant faint cursing from the Aug when he had to deal with the more fragile and smaller pieces of a watch, so he had tried to order an expensive tool set for him. Instead of spending his time worrying about how to hide the damn thing from Adam, Miller ended up worrying if he would ever even get the damn thing in time.

A mix-up had occurred in the sending process, which the company he ordered from, sent his gift to God-knows-where. So, he had to file a complaint and demand another delivery, though it ended up with him being on a waiting list, because the thing he picked was apparently a popular choice for tech geeks. What a fucking coincidence! Still the faint hope that he might be able to get it by Christmas’ Eve appeased the old man somewhat. He might need to pay some pilot to private V-TOL it to him, just in case...

So, the first part was nothing other than a nervous wreck case of waiting, but fine, he could deal with it. Miller then focused on their Christmas dinner date menu. He was looking forward to it, to actually cook something like he had done so in the past when he had a family and it was the holidays. Still... he should have known that things weren’t going to go smooth sail for him if trying to get a simple present for Adam could have so many complications, then so would the food department...

From needing to get a rain check on a turkey to finding nothing but over-expensive vegetables, and then arguing with some old granny about having to grab that bottle of whiskey from a shelf and not let her cart off to just having the card reader malfunctioning when he was paying. The grocery days had completely exhausted Miller’s usual patience reserve, rendering him a snappier and more prone to a violent version of himself at TF29 that everyone gave a wide berth to. Of course, he usually calmed down when Adam came in to check on him. (Actually, Adam volunteered as a tribute to handle Miller while everyone else was cowering in a corner and trying to push one or another to check up on their boss.)

After so many trials and tribulations, the week was finally here! Christmas was on the horizon! And nothing would ruin the last step of his plan!

That was what he thought until...

***

Miller sagged against the old and uncomfortable park bench, not even a care for the dust of snow collecting on his hair or scarf as he sighed heavily in exhaustion. All of his planning had gone down the drain when Manderley suddenly called in for a special mission for him, telling to pick only one of his best men to go with him. It was a package recovery job in a remote northern region of Canada, though one that had a bunch of heavily augmented individuals guarding it and the package itself was contained in a wired box. Miller was pretty sure that Manderley had picked him for the mission to get him killed, or he just wanted to ruin his semi-perfect Christmas. Either way, it did not matter. He survived and mission accomplished, though he was now feeling miserable.

A small cup of hot chocolate appeared before his blue eyes, blinking in surprise, he followed the augmented hand that held it to look at its owner, who had retracted their shades and was looking at him in worry. Miller sighed once more as he took the cup, cradling it between his gloved hands. ‘Thank you Adam.’

‘You alright, Jim?’ the younger male asked as he sat down next to him, holding his own cup. ‘We had a few close calls there, but we’re fine. Safe and back to civilization too.’

‘...Christmas,’ Miller said after a moment of silence, just staring at the snow that continued to fall. The small town they were now located in had that bit of a historic look on the architectures and its townspeople had thoroughly decorated their town for Christmas, with garlands, wreaths and ribbons covering all the buildings. Even the trees had lights covering their snowy branches. Sadly, the old man just couldn’t see the beauty of it with his mood being this sour. ‘I was planning to make this a great Christmas for you... And we end up on another continent and miles away from a home where I should be getting a delicious turkey out of the oven right now! Tonight was supposed to be perfect! It was supposed to be special! And it’s all fucking ruined because of a stupid mission!’

His outburst had literally shocked the augmented man beside him, seeing he rarely went into such an uproar before, though he couldn’t bring himself to regret it after all those stressful days of working and preparing everything for Christmas.

‘I don’t mind we don’t get to spend a Christmas night like everyone else,’ Adam said reassuringly once the shock past and he held Miller’s hand gently in his. The same soft and gentle smile that he only ever showed to him stretched on his lips. The warm glow from the different lights around the park made it more angelic in Miller’s eyes, which brought back a small smile of his own.

Though the smile soon turned into a worried one when blue eyes noticed a mischievous quality. The light of those augmented eyes as their owner quickly pulled him up, their drinks all but forgotten as Adam dragged Miller towards the frozen lake next to the town, stopping right beside a small cabin that rented out ice skating shoes.

‘Adam... what are you thinking?’ Miller demanded in suspicion, knowing very well that when those eyes shone mischievously, nothing good would happen next, and he was right when Adam proceeded to break the lock on the door. ‘Adam! That was breaking and entering!’

The augmented man kept smiling all slyly as he went inside while Miller stayed outside, glancing around in worry that someone would stumble upon them. He knew very well of his subordinate’s bad kleptomaniac habits, but this was ridiculous even by his standards! Talk of the century: the director of a secret underground facility and organization was found breaking and entering a cabinet of a remote town! Ugh. He would shoot himself if that ever happened than face Manderley. No! Never mind Manderley, MacReady would be the death of him first! That man could talk like a machine gun when he wanted to!

Miller almost jumped out of his skin when he felt a tap on his shoulder as he scrambled away, barely holding back his surprise yelp. He glared at the chuckling imp known as Adam Jensen who held out a pair of ice skates to him. He shook his head in refusal as he hissed out, ‘No, no, no. No way am I putting those on!’

It was not just the matter of being incriminated by putting them on, but also the fact that he couldn’t skate even if his life depended on it! He came from Australia! Australia! As in Australia, the continent that never snowed! Sure, they had a few ice rinks for that, but he did not live anywhere near any of those and he was into outdoor activities with a warm sun above his head! Not artificial light from above and man-made ice under his feet!

‘Oh, come on Jim! It’ll be fun!’ Adam declared gleefully as he dragged him to the benches that were set up for the ice skaters. Miller struggled all the way and reminded him that he disliked activities that involved cold weather. His pseudo-lover just ignored his complaints and went to remove his shoes. Damn augmented arms! He would have been able to put up more of a struggle if they didn’t weight a ton or solid enough to bruise him!

Soon enough his shoes were set aside, with his arms crossed over his chest, and he was frowning like no tomorrow on the bench while Adam happily put on his own pair, a bit of hassle for him, seeing he needed get some parts of his augmented feet off to slip into them. Unfortunately, the short delay did not dampen the American’s mood as he easily stood up without a struggle. Smiling from ear to ear as he extended his hand towards Miller and said in a mock-gentleman-like manner, ‘Would this handsome gentleman be interested in a stroll on ice?’

‘No,’ was Miller’s instant refusal, of course, Adam wouldn’t be taken down by that refusal and he just plainly ignored his word as he pulled him up, landing him right on the ice.

Miller couldn’t stop the yelp in surprise as he tried to keep his balance, flailing his arms around before he grappled onto Adam’s arm for support. He punched the man’s chest at his laugh, ignoring the sting he got from hitting the chest armor. Sadly, his move had unbalanced himself further and he landed on the ice with a thud. Now he had a stinging hand, a tingling backbone and a cold ass. Great...

‘Are you alright?’ Adam asked in between his laugh as he took hold of both Miller’s arms and, with a deft push from his skates, made the inexperience skater stand back up. The older man instantly fell into his embrace and looped his arms around the Aug’s waist, holding on for dear life. ‘Hey, hey, no need to be scared. Just like riding a bike.’

‘This is nothing like riding a bike!’ Miller instantly snapped back as Adam moved them away from the edge and going further into the frozen lake. He slipped and tripped while Adam easily corrected his balance to keep them from falling. It was almost unfair how the younger man seemed to be much more at ease on ice than he was. He should be flailing about and falling on his ass too!

‘Trust me,’ Adam whispered suavely into his ears, bringing a blush to Miller’s cheek, because of... ahem... all those indoor activities they had done together when the Aug used that tone of voice. Goddamn it. He had it bad if he got distracted by just his voice!

Still, it did not stop his feet from shaking like leaves under strong winds or make him loosen his steel-like hold on his alloy hands. Nonetheless, Adam kept that beautiful smile on his face as he gently tugged him forward and spoke his instructions in a clear manner. One foot pushed backwards while the other moved forward. Forward, forward, a little to the left, a little to the right and they were slowly starting to ice skate.

Soon enough, Miller was comfortable enough to release his strong grip on Adam’s hands and maintained his own balance as they kept moving. The Aug moved to his side and took his hand in his as they continued to skate around the frozen lake’s surface at their own leisure pace.

‘I’ll admit, this is very similar to biking,’ Miller admitted after they made a short turnabout. Their aimless wandering and moving in whichever direction they pleased was just like when he was biking on his own across the dry lands of Australia.

‘Well, just a small minor difference,’ Adam said with a bigger mischievous smirk.

‘And what was TTTHHHHHAAAAAAAATTTTTTT?’ Miller ended up screaming when the Aug took his hand in both of his and swung him in a wide arc before he pulled him back into his embrace, laughing the whole time. The out of the blue action had rendered him into a gasping mess as he held a hand over his madly beating heart. He was not impressed to say the least and he had lost at least three-quarters of his life in that stunt! He glared at Adam as he jabbed his finger angrily at his chest. ‘You. Almost. KILLED. ME!’

‘Nope, I just gave you a big adrenaline rush,’ Adam replied cheekily with a matching grin on his face. Miller wanted to keep his frown up, but sadly, seeing how much his pseudo-lover was enjoying himself, he really couldn’t keep up the serious face.

He sighed in exasperation as he muttered in displeasure, ‘You’re impossible, Adam.’

Adam chuckled in reply as he placed a bit of distance between them with only their hands linked together. The mischief was finally gone from Adam’s eyes and the usual serenity came back, along with that perfect little smile. ‘Maybe, but you love me all the same, and I’m forever thankful for that.’

It was Miller’s turn to chuckle at Adam’s words before he asked, ‘Shall we dance then? Christmas won’t be complete without a little dance.’

‘Of course, Jim,’ Adam answered as they settled into their usual dance pose. They didn’t really care who was taking the lead, so long that they were moving along together. In circles they went, a few twirls here and there when they were more daring. Whoever saw them now could say that those two men were deeply in love with each other.

Once they slowed to a stop, Adam whispered softly to Miller, ‘Merry Christmas, Jim.’

‘Merry Christmas, Adam,’ Miller returned with a soft smile. Sure, it wasn’t the perfect Christmas night he had planned. No cuddling in a warm home, guessing what presents they had under the tree or eating a hearty meal. Somehow, without the usual Christmas traditions, Adam had made this Christmas special in his own way and brought a smile on both of their faces.

‘Oh, we’re just missing one little thing to make this perfect,’ Adam declared, surprising Miller who immediately turned wary at whatever idea was in that augmented head of his.

‘Oh no, no more surprises. I’ll die at this rate...’ Blue eyes blinked in surprise as the black alloy hand held a silver star above their head and underneath said star was a vibrant green and bright red colours of a mistletoe.

Before Miller could say anything, Adam surged forward and claimed his lips in a deep searing kiss. Not hot enough to melt the ice underneath their feet, though it certainly left Miller all breathless and warm. The kiss made both artificial and mechanical heart beat faster and far more in synch than they were previously as Christmas chimed away in the distance.

 

 

This story is greatly inspired by the artwork of [soothsayerc](http://soothsayerc.tumblr.com/post/181324297575/happy-holidays)


End file.
